During a working trip to South Korea, Czech Minister of Industry & Trade Lukáš Vlček has held talks with representatives of state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and other Korean companies involved in the project to build new nuclear units in Dukovany.
In July 2024, a South Korean consortium led by the KHNP was selected as the preferred bidder for the construction of up to four NPP units in the Czech Republic. The other contender was Électricité de France (EDF). US-based Westinghouse Electric had been excluded from the tender in January, because it “did not meet the necessary conditions”. The project involves the construction of up to four large nuclear reactors at the Dukovany and Temelín NPP sites, with two reactors (units 5&6) confirmed for Dukovany. The total project cost is estimated by the Czech Republic to be approximately CZK200bn ($8.85bn) per unit. The Czech Republic and KHNP plan to finalise the contract by March 2025, aiming for the completion of the first nuclear reactor by 2036.
According to the Czech Ministry of Industry & Trade, Vlček met with other potential Korean investors in the Czech Republic, met with “the acting Korean president and “representatives of the Korean opposition”, who expressed full support for the Dukovany project.
Incumbent President Yoon Suk Yeol is currently being held in the Seoul Detention Centre following his impeachment by parliament in December on charges leading an insurrection after he imposed martial law. He is now facing criminal charges at Seoul’s Central District Court while the Constitutional Court is holding hearings to decide whether to formally remove him from office and could rule within a few weeks. If Yoon is removed, a new presidential election will have to be held within 60 days. In that event, Lee Jae-myung Lee, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party is the favourite to win. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok has assumed the role of acting president. Vlček is therefore keeping his options open.
“In addition to the completion of Dukovany and the involvement of Czech industry, we also dealt with further cooperation between our countries with acting president and Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, not only in terms of further investment and deepening trade relations, but also in research, development and innovation,” Vlček said after meeting Choi in the Gwanghwamun government complex.
At the National Assembly, Vlček then met with representatives of the South Korean opposition. “The political situation in South Korea has sometimes raised concerns about whether it will jeopardise the nuclear tender for Dukovany. That is why, during our visit to Korea, we met not only with representatives of the government, but also with opposition Democratic parties, which are sometimes said to be against the project. And we were convinced otherwise. At the meeting, the Korean opposition confirmed to me that it fully supports the project of new nuclear sources and that they are ready to develop trade and cultural relations between the Czech Republic and South Korea.”
Vlček concluded: “The selection of KHNP as the preferred supplier for new nuclear units in Dukovany opens up new possibilities for Czech-Korean economic and technological cooperation. In Korea, we have confirmed that our priority is to ensure that this cooperation goes beyond nuclear energy and includes research, development, small modular reactors, hydrogen technologies, electromobility, battery systems, semiconductors or education.”
During his visit, Vlček also launched the Czech-Korean Energy Forum, which provided a platform for strengthening cooperation in the field of energy, innovation and modern technologies.This followed the Czech-Korean Forum for Cooperation in Industry and Energy Technologies held in Prague in September, during which more than ten memoranda of understanding were signed.
At the Forum, negotiations on localisation “continued in an expanded format involving Team Korea, Czech power company ČEZ and representatives of Czech industry who arrived in Seoul as part of a business mission led by the Confederation of Industry & Transport.” The focus was the participation of Czech companies in the Dukovany project. “We confirmed with Korean partners in the negotiation that the goal of the involvement of Czech industry in the completion should be 60%. I also submitted a request for a specific commitment for 30% involvement of Czech industry before the signing of the EPC contract, for example in the form of contracts for future contracts,” Vlček said.
He noted that the involvement of Czech industry in the completion of Dukovany “is personally an important topic for me and I believe that after a number of negotiations in Korea, in which representatives of Czech industry also participated, we managed to significantly move on this topic”. He added that negotiations will continue “next week, when representatives of both KHNP and other companies, as well as the Korean government and the opposition arrives in Prague”.
The President of the Czech Confederation of Industry & Transport of Jan Rafaj, noted on X: “Some negotiations are not easy at all, especially when it comes to the tender of the century. Today I must commend Minister Vlček for his unequivocal and strong support for Czech industry at the meeting in Seoul.”
The Korea Times said KHNP is awaiting the main contract next month for the Dukovany project worth CZK400bn ($16bn). KHNP was selected as the preferred bidder but with a binding option for the construction of two more units at Temelin. “If the Czech Republic decides to cooperate with Korea on both the Dukovany and Temelin projects, the value of KHNP’s deals with the European country will double to CZK800bn,” the paper commented.
“This is our intention,” Vlcek said in an exclusive written interview with The Korea Times and its sister paper, The Hankook Ilbo. “The decision to construct two additional units will be up to the new government in the Czech Republic, but we are making sure that the next government will have everything it needs to make such a decision.” Czech parliamentary elections are scheduled for October, but both the ruling and opposition parties support the construction of new nuclear plants.
“The attitude toward nuclear power is shifting in Europe, and many countries are realising that achieving net-zero without nuclear would be costlier than assumed in the past,” Vlcek said. “I think there will be plenty of opportunities to cooperate on upgrades, maintenance and lifetime extension [of Dukovany reactors] or for Temelin, or even on third markets in the future.”
